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U.S. Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-720 Climate-related impacts, such as coastal property damage, have already cost the federal government billions of dollars, and these costs will likely rise in the future. We found that information on the economic effects of climate change is developing and imprecise, but it can convey insights into the nation’s regions and … Continue reading →

Wood MacKenzie [free download with Scribd registration] https://www.scribd.com/document/362638510/Lng-vs-Solar-Insight [Axios] A new analysis from the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie compares the costs of using solar power and liquefied natural gas to replace the petroleum fuel, mostly diesel, that currently supplies power to several thousand islands worldwide. What they found: LNG, and systems that combine solar and LNG, would already be cheaper on … Continue reading →

Univ. of Western Ontario http://inducedearthquakes.org/ [Phys.org] A new database showcasing hundreds of examples of human-triggered earthquakes should shake up policy-makers, regulators and industry executives looking to mitigate these unacceptable hazards caused by our own actions, according to a Western Earth Sciences professor. “Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey are now raising the possibility many of the … Continue reading →

re:focus partners / by Shalini Vajjhala and James Rhodes http://brook.gs/2xl2mmy [Brookings Institution] So how can governments at all levels take a different approach to managing natural disasters? In a new report, A Guide to Public-Sector Resilience Bond Sponsorship, my co-author James Rhodes and I highlight how Resilience Bonds can help local, state, and federal government agencies and international development banks … Continue reading →

Institute for Policy Integrity / by Denise A. Grab and Jack Lienke http://bit.ly/2kgNAr4 [Politico’s Morning Energy] The Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU’s School of Law is out with a report today arguing the emissions reduction targets of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan are more achievable due to changes in the electric sector. If the agency … Continue reading →

Rocky Mountain Institute https://www.rmi.org/insights/reports/from_gas_to_grid/ (download with registration) [Axios] A major Rocky Mountain Institute report released this morning says policymakers need to move ahead ASAP with wise policies to plan for and create the charging infrastructure for EV’s in an energy-efficient and financially sound way. “Electric vehicles of all sizes, shapes, and applications are coming quickly, and … Continue reading →

University of Michigan http://www.umenergysurvey.com/assets/C-taxG-aff_12Sep2017.pdf Probing consumers’ thresholds for “pain at the pump” enables us to quantify how a carbon tax would affect American consumers’ feelings about the affordability of gasoline. The gasoline price that consumers say they would find unaffordable, in the sense of having to change how they travel or otherwise conduct their daily lives, … Continue reading →

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions / by Manjyot Bhan Ahluwalia http://bit.ly/2wnkID3 Increasingly, companies across sectors and geographies are turning to an internal carbon price as one tool to help them reduce carbon emissions, mitigate climate-related business risks, and identify opportunities in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Establishing a carbon price across a company can … Continue reading →

Environmental Research Letters (2017, v2 p094012) / by Matthew J Kotchen, et al. http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa822a [Abstract] We provide evidence from a nationally representative survey on Americans’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a carbon tax, and public preferences for how potential carbon-tax revenue should be spent. The average WTP for a tax on fossil fuels that increases household … Continue reading →